That Old Seasonal Feeling
by nauticaas
Summary: Only Brook would think to start the Christmas carols at five in the morning on the first of December. A modern/reincarnation AU.
1. A Familiar Chorus

**Author's Note:** Set in the _Any Other Way/Our Funny, Traveling Tale!_ universe. A modern/reincarnation AU. I apologize for neglecting my other stories; I fell into the holiday mood. Very festive, you see. Very cheery.

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><p>Franky shoved his face into the pillow and counted a slow ten seconds (alright, so it was closer to four) before he hauled himself out of his bed and to the window overlooking the street. "Five o'clock, Brook. Are you for real right now?"<p>

He blinked the rest of that haze of sleep out of his eyes. "My God, not you guys too?"

"Season's greetings, my friend. We come bearing tidings of joy…and many, many Christmas carols." Brook smiled up at him brightly, with a half-conscious Luffy and Chopper hanging on to either arm for support. They were planted firmly and knee-deep in a snow bank on the left-side curb in front of the workshop, bundled up warmly against the chill of the morning and the wintry weather combined. He didn't know whether to be inspired by their resilience or just disappointed.

He settled on being exasperated. "And this couldn't wait until a nice, normal hour?"

"You don't like it?" Franky could see the mischievous glint of delight in his friend's innocent look, and he knew immediately that this was a battle he would not win. "I thought you would enjoy the merry-making and the really loud chorusing in the festive streets. I had hoped we could round everyone up along the way and finish up with breakfast at Sanji's, if you felt up to it. It would be a most joyous occasion."

Franky's grin was not nearly as reluctant as it should have been, and he was already reaching for his coat and boots and planning out his escape from the house without catching Iceburg's attention in the process. "The heck, of course I'm up to it! You woke me up already anyway, and no one sane could turn down Curly-bro's food. I'll be right down."

He stopped halfway to the door and slinked back to the window as quietly as he could. "Just one question…how did you get these two to sign on so early in the first place?"

Luffy gave a sudden snore and fumbled with what looked to be a half-eaten sandwich, and Chopper whimpered sleepily around a glazed donut hanging out of his mouth. They were muttering the words to "The Twelve Days of Christmas" with admirable determination and effort. Brook looked down in bemusement at his two sleepy companions. "Does that answer your question?"

"Yeah, except I think we should hurry; that's not gonna last 'em the trip down to the Baratie."

Brook shrugged. "You may be right. So, I'll ask properly: would you care to join our merry little caroling chorus, Franky?"

Franky leaned against the windowsill and rested his cheek in his hand with a smirk. "Why Brook, I thought you'd never ask. Let's see if we can't liven up that little entourage of yours, huh?"

Brook's response was cut off by a hoarse yell from inside the house. "First the goddamned carolers, and now this idiot brother of mine. _Franky, shut up and get back to bed already! It's five in the morning!"_

"Crap, it's Iceburg!" Franky shoved his window open the rest of the way and clambered out, to Brook's wide-eyed dismay. He held his hands up and shook his head desperately, begging Franky to "please, don't act so recklessly, Franky, Franky-_Franky-Franky-Frank_-!"

In all honesty, that was one of Franky's better escapes, even if Brook wasn't the most comfortable person to land on. He also left his scarf and gloves behind and had to huddle close to the others to stay warm, but shaking off that post-sleep laziness and the aches and bruises of his abrupt headlong crash into his friend's skinny frame (as well as a ton of powdery snow from the drift on the street corner), he figured that it wasn't a bad start to the day, all in all. As they trudged through the fresh, undriven snow along the quieter sidestreets of Dock Seven, singing Christmas carols and trying to keep Luffy and Chopper on their feet and awake, Franky smiled broadly, threw an arm around Brook's shoulders, and decided it was actually shaping up to be a pretty super day.


	2. Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

Usopp stood, mouth agape (and knees slightly trembling), at the center of the Fir Everyone Tree Nursery and Buying Lot, where the most incredible, awe-inspiring, and terrifying sight awaited him and his group like an ill omen of yuletide pain and torment. He glanced sidelong at Robin, who nodded appreciatively at the fine specimen of terror and doom. Right, she was going to be no help in this matter.

He looked back at his other lone (but no more helpful) companion. "A-are you sure about this, Zoro?"

"That's the one," Zoro affirmed, planting his fists on his hips and leaning back to size up that behemoth of a tree like it was a potential opponent in a fistfight. "That's the tree that Nami wants us to get, trust me."

Usopp bit his lip and tried again (there was a joke in there somewhere about plants and Zoro's hair, but he was too muddled by fear and Sanji wasn't around to supply it for him). "She, uh…she didn't actually say-"

Zoro whirled around and glared at him. "Listen, Usopp. That girl told us to get the biggest, newest, most Christmas-y tree in the city, and this is it. Now, I've got a debt in the Private Financial Holdings Group of NAMI and my one chance at clearing it before Sensei finds out I lost my allowance to her is _this_! We're getting this tree and that's final."

He sighed and slowly, fearfully began to resign himself to the inevitable, as always. It didn't make the task looming beforehand any less daunting. "Yeah, okay, I can sympathize with your money troubles ('_stop gambling against her'_) but how do you expect us to move that monster?"

Zoro grinned that awful grin of his, the one he got only on those very special occasions when he calmly strode up to death and punched it in the face (incidentally, also the very occasions when he and several other people potentially ended up in the hospital). "The same way we move any other big-ass piece of crap, of course. Roll up your sleeves, losers; we're going in."

With that, he stomped off toward the tree, waving aside a few of the other interested buyers (_insane, the lot of them,_ Usopp thought wearily). "_Oi, back off! That tree is ours_."

Usopp sighed again, feeling less and less sure of their success when he saw how small Zoro looked in comparison to the tree lot giant. "Oh my God, I can't believe he actually expects us to move that thing with our bare hands."

Robin held up her gloved hands. "You should have planned; I brought mittens."

He didn't even have the emotional energy to be exasperated at the twinkle in her eyes as she said that with a straight face, with good reason, too. Robin pressed a fluffy purple mitten to her cheek as she wondered aloud, an inquisitive, curious expression on her rosy-cheeked face. "I wonder how fast we will die if the tree happens to fall on us: will we linger in painful, slow suffocation, or will it crush us instantly?"

That was it. He was so done.

"Bah, humbug," Usopp said flatly.


End file.
